


from the razor to the rosary

by smallredboy



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Episode: s03e02 Primavera, Forgiveness, M/M, Religious Imagery & Symbolism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27197671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallredboy/pseuds/smallredboy
Summary: Will goes to the Palermo Cathedral.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Kudos: 13
Collections: Froday Flash Fiction Little & Monthly Specials 2020, Hannibal Bingo





	from the razor to the rosary

**Author's Note:**

> **hannibal bingo:** duomo  
>  **fffc's 100th special:** church
> 
> enjoy!

Will watches the torso in the Palermo cathedral with a degree of fascination.

He knows, of course, that it was Hannibal. That's obvious enough, even without any sort of clue on the scene that brings him to this fact. Hannibal is here in Italy, having told him that his mind palace is based off this church so many months ago it feels like an eternity ago. Back when things were fine; back when Abigail was alive and he didn't know it.

He watches the body, the way it's disfigured and distorted grotesquely, only the torso left for him to gawk at. He can't shake the feeling that it's meant to symbolize something. 

When he walks away, looks at it from a distance, he gets it— it's a heart. Hannibal's heart, given to him in this way. A broken heart, a mourning, an apology. It hurts and makes his insides feel like they're twisting. He doesn't know how to respond to this, other than by staring.

 _He left us his broken heart_ , he thinks.

It's a strange notion. He knows Hannibal loves him, that he really does want him; that he wanted to run away with him when he gave him the chance. But he didn't take it. It stews in the back of his mind, how if he had known Abigail was alive he would've abandoned the FBI much, much sooner. But Hannibal's theatrics kept them trapped here, and now it's all come to this horrible end. A scar in his stomach, Abigail six feet underground.

He reaches over to touch it, the flesh pulsing against him, the heart _beating_. He looks up at the ceiling of the church, the cracks he imagines, how Hannibal would just love it if it collapsed while there was mass going on. He doesn't play God, he never has; defying God is his idea of a good time. And yet, when he came into this church, he felt closer to Hannibal than ever before. 

He's never quite understood Christianity, but that's what churches for, aren't they? Being closer to Him. Now it's like he's found religion among their corridors, against the broken heart, impaled and disfigured. Who was this man? What poor man made his way into Hannibal's life and was deemed worthy enough to represent his heartbreak? He wishes he knew. Perhaps they'll get identifying information from what's left of the body.

He spends most of his day in the Duomo, gets down to the catacombs. He knows Hannibal is waiting there, waiting for him. He's light up all the lights for him, even.

When he looks up at Hannibal, when he sees him, there is only one thing he can manage to say. 

He thinks about Abigail's funeral, about her bleeding out against him. 

"I forgive you," he breathes out.


End file.
